Charlotte City Manager Curt Walton was given nearly a 4 percent raise over his pay last year - to a total compensation package of $234,537 - the City Council narrowly voted Monday night.

Walton's base salary last year was $200,312, plus he was given allowances for a car and other expenses that raised his total pay to roughly $210,000. In addition last year, he received a $16,000 bonus that pushed his compensation to roughly $226,000.

Despite the poor economy, Walton lobbied council members for more money, believing he is underpaid compared with other city managers as well as other local government officials. The council voted 6-5 to give him a flat salary, which includes bonus money and an allowance.

Mayor Anthony Foxx, a Democrat, doesn't vote on pay issues, said City Attorney Mac McCarley, who also received a pay increase Monday night.

Foxx said he wouldn't veto the pay hike, even though he's against it because the timing isn't right in a poor economy.

"I disagree with it," Foxx said. "But there are certain issues that belong to the full council. This is one of them."

Council members who voted for the pay package said Walton was doing a good job.

Said Carter: "We appreciate our manager and all that he's done."

While Mecklenburg County made steep cuts to schools, libraries and social services to balance its budget, the city's financial picture was less severe. Charlotte balanced its budget with smaller cuts, and was able to give city workers a 2 percent raise for the current fiscal year.

Peacock, the only Republican who supported the pay hike, said he felt the manager deserved more money when compared to other managers. He said that if the city had hired an outside candidate to replace then-city manager Pay Syfert in 2007, Charlotte would have had to pay significantly more than what Walton earns.

The City Council discussed Walton and City Attorney Mac McCarley's pay during closed session Monday afternoon. When they took a vote on their pay Monday night, the city briefly showed a slide of what other city managers make, but that wasn't made available to the public before or after the vote.

McCarley's pay for the upcoming year will be $194,596. A year ago, McCarley received $175,781 in salary and a $15,000 bonus.

The bonuses were controversial a year ago. Walton had cut all pay raises and bonuses for city staff for fiscal 2010, and then accepted a bonus at a time when his employees weren't receiving any pay increases.

At the time, Walton said the $16,000 bonus was for fiscal year 2009. Monday night's decision was an evaluation for fiscal year 2010, and Walton received more money.

Walton earns less than some peers in Mecklenburg. County Manager Harry Jones is slated to receive $283,011 this year after commissioners voted to shift most of his bonus into his base salary. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Superintendent Peter Gorman's total compensation last year was $302,000, and he declined a bonus.

Michael Smith, president and chief executive of Center City Partners, received just under $300,000 in total compensation, including retirement benefits, according to the group's 2008 tax return. Center City Partners, which is funded primarily by a special tax uptown, is tasked with promoting and developing uptown.

A year ago, when the council voted for Walton to receive a bonus, Barnes and former Mayor Pat McCrory voted against it.

McCarley said Monday night that technically McCrory's vote didn't count because the mayor is only allowed to vote on the status of a manager's employment - not his pay.

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